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Vol. 9 No. 47…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…November
24, 2006
Bit of History
Aimé Fernand David Césaire
Born June 25, 1913 at Basse-Pointe, Martinique,
Aimé Fernand David Césaire and his five siblings were raised by
their mother, a dressmaker, and father, a local tax inspector. While their father
was well-educated and they shared the cultural sensibilities of the
petit-bourgeois, the Césaires lived close to the edge of poverty.
A brilliant student, at age eleven, Césaire was admitted to the Lycée Schoelcher in Fort-de-France. He graduated in 1931, taking prizes in French, Latin, English and history. Later that year, he traveled to Paris to attend the Lycée Louis-le Grand on an educational scholarship.
As a student, Césaire and his friends,
Léopold Senghor of Sénégal and Léon Damas, created L'Etudiant
Noir, a publication that brought together students of Africa and the West
Indies. In 1936, Césaire began work on his book-length poem Cahier
d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to My Native Land), a
depiction of the ambiguities of black life in the New World.
Césaire married Suzanne Roussi (1937). The
couple returned to Martinique in 1939. Césaire became a teacher at the
Lycée Schoelcher in Fort-de-France. Frantz Fanon was among his students.
During World War II, Césaire and Suzanne
Roussi founded the literary review Tropiques (1941) with the help of
other Martinican intellectuals, like René Ménil and Aristide
Maugée, to challenge the cultural status quo of colonialism. It featured
articles on the ideas of Negritude and black American poetry.
In Discourse on Colonialism (1950),
Césaire showed how colonialism works to "de-civilize" the
colonizer. The instruments of colonial power rely on barbaric, brutal violence
and intimidation, and the end result is the degradation of the colonizer. For
Césaire, "the colonizers' sense of superiority, sense of mission as
the world's civilizers, depends on turning the 'Other' into a barbarian. The
Africans, the Indians, the Asians cannot possess civilization or a culture
equal to the imperialists, or the latter have no purpose, no justification for
the exploitation and domination of the rest of the world." Discourse
on Colonialism is a stunning indictment of Western Civilization, the
birthplace of fascism.
His books of poetry include Aimé
Césaire: The Collected Poetry (University of California Press,
1983); Putting in Fetters (1960); Lost Bodies (1950), with
illustrations by Pablo Picasso; Decapitated Sun (1948); Miraculous
Arms (1946); and Notebook of a Return to the Homeland (1939). He
is also a playwright, and has written Moi, Laminaire (1982); The
Tempest (1968), based on Shakespeare's play; A Season at Congo
(1966); and The Tragedy of King Cristophe (1963).
A recipient of the International Nâzim
Hikmet Poetry Award, he served as Mayor of Fort-de-France as a member of the
Communist Party, and later quit the party to establish his Martinique
Independent Revolution Party. He also served as the deputy to the French National
Assembly. Césaire retired from politics in 2001. (Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org, www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Cesaire.html,
www.cosmoetica.com/S5-AD1.htm and www.monthlyreview.org/discourse.htm)
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro has much to be thankful for this
holiday season. His most recent progress report was better than average; he has
promised to do better. With good grades, he enjoys television and video game
privileges. When asked for comments on this auspicious occasion, the Dark
One/Ninja/Zorro enthusiastically exclaimed, "I am thankful for everything,
including ALL members of my family; I am a very lucky person!
By John Burl Smith
Democrat and Republican definition of the problem of Iraqi security is
dominated by the "hawkish" notion that the United States' (US)
presence in Iraq will somehow solve the problem. When it comes to Iraqi
security, the US is the problem. Democrats and Republicans ignore the fact that
the US invaded Iraq under false pretenses, using deception and outright lies.
Now, they are repositioning with the fallback strategy, "Now that we are
there, we have to win." This semantic pincer is calculated to squeeze
immediate withdrawal out of the debate. Ipso facto, they frame the debate in
terms of "cut and run" verses "support our troops."
The idea that the US can bring democracy to Iraq is part and parcel of the same
hawkish notions that kept US troops in Viet Nam, thousands of bodies longer
than necessary. For the record, the US intervened in a civil war in Viet Nam,
and this time, the US invaded Iraq and started a civil war. Consequently, US
lawmakers face the same dilemma that confronted the nation after Tet in Viet
Nam. Authorizing more troop means the US is committed to a
"blood-for-oil" policy. Again as in Viet Nam, this means sacrificing
more US sons and daughters, and Iraqis to forestall the enviable. Holding on to
some small defensive position, like the "green zone," is to prescribe
bleeding the patient as the only hope of survival. Either way, US citizens must
brace themselves for more and more bodies simply to justify a stupid decision
anyway it is approached.
The slimiest reality in this infamous episode is that at the bottom of it all
is "old-fashion greed." Oil! Middle Eastern Oil and the need to
control that resource as it comes out of the ground was the US' prime
objective. Given Saudi Arabia has proven to be a shaky ally at best, if the US
was going to realize neocons' dreams of empire, such a vital resource could not
be left in the hands of "towel-heads" and "madmen." These
"terrorists" could not be allowed to maintain a stranglehold on
western economies by creating shortages or blackmailing western governments
with unreasonable price hikes. This is the real scenario being debated when
questions about Iraq are posed, not how many people will die to maintain the
neocons' dream of "A New American Century."
The current effort to recast the situation, in terms of the US staying only
until Iraq is stabilized, is the latest "hail Mary." This same logic
was the last refuge of Viet Nam hawks. That delay bought Richard Nixon time to
orchestrate his massive bombing campaign to "bring North Viet Nam to the
peace table." What hawks do not get in all of this is that Iraqis are
"pissed" to the high heavens, and they should be! Cosmetic word games
are not going to placate, allay or appease their rightful and just anger. The
US has done the Iraqi people a grave injustice, far worst than what was done to
Viet Nam. The US invaded their relatively peaceful country, killed hundreds of
thousands of innocent civilians and destroyed their land. These are crimes
against humanity! What can stabilize such anger, if 9-11 sent the US to war in
Afghanistan?
Midterm election results have changed the numbers in Congress. Questions abound
as to whether any power actually changed hands. Many believe those who run
things in the world, have bought enough of the US Congress that the votes will
not change anything. "And therein lies the rub!" Are their any young
Hamlet's ready to suffer the slings and arrows awaiting those who would
challenge the lies? Could it be some who returned are "The Unforgiven"
ready to pick the fight for the poor that have been prostituted? These millions
are suffering under the quadruple burden of taxes, debt, deficit and low or no
wages.
Surely, election results can be seen as desperate citizens pooling their votes
to bring in some "Magnificent Seven" to stand up to the bad guys,
investigate complaints, charge suspected wrong-doers and drag before the bar of
justice those found wanting. Through their votes collectively, they placed a
demand on those in Congress to take back their country before they have to take
to the streets and do it themselves, as their parents did over Viet Nam!
Disgruntled wants to know: Days before the mid-term elections, George W.
Bush dishonestly proclaimed total support for the jobs being done by Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney. Without prompting by
the news media, Bush declared they would stay on with his administration for
the remainder of his second term. Surprise! Rummy is gone, fired the day after
the elections. Do we dare hope that Cheney will likewise fall on his sword soon
to save this administration? Or, will the next sacrificial lamb be Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, who ominously warned of mushroom clouds during the lead
up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq?
Disgruntled feels: Unwrapped! Thank God
for the cell phone video that captured Michael Richards' n-word meltdown.
Richards' unscripted racist rant unmasked the KKK in our midst. Erroneously, we
thought he was that lovable nitwit Kramer from the hit television comedy series
Seinfeld. But no, Richards is a white man. He sees himself as superior to
blacks and other non-whites. Despite his attempts to apologize, it is too late
to put that genie back into the box. He said, repeatedly, exactly what he
really felt and believed. I don't know how others feel, but I prefer such
deep-seated hatred unwrapped and raw. That way, you know to expect the ugly
racism -colorism blacks so often get in this society.
Disgruntled says: Now that Democrats
control Congress, there are rumors galore that impeachment if off the table.
Some spread fear of Dick Cheney occupying the Oval Office should Bush be
impeached and removed from office. Possible crimes have been committed, yet our
national leaders and lawmakers seem willing to allow these criminals to escape
punishment. It is impossible to square such leniency with the thousands of
non-violent offenders rotting in prisons across this country. None of these
people has killed a single person, while Bush and Cheney have the blood of
thousands on their hands. Impeach Bush and Cheney!
(Excerpt) Notebook of a Return to the Native Land
By Aimé Césaire
At the end of daybreak. . .
Beat it, I said to him, you cop, you lousy pig, beat it,
I detest the flunkies of order
and the cockchafers of hope.
Beat it, evil grigri, you bedbug of a petty monk.
Then I turned toward paradises lost
for him and his kin,
calmer than the face of a woman telling lies,
and there, rocked by the flux
of a never exhausted thought
I nourished the wind,
I unlaced the monsters and heard rise,
from the other side of disaster,
a river of turtledoves and savanna clover
which I carry forever in my depths
height-deep as the twentieth floor
of the most arrogant houses
and as a guard against the putrefying
force of crepuscular surroundings,
surveyed night and day by a cursed venereal sun.
At the end of daybreak burgeoning with frail coves,
the hungry Antilles, the Antilles pitted with smallpox,
the Antilles dynamited by alcohol,
stranded in the mud of this bay,
in the dust of this town sinisterly stranded.
At the end of daybreak, the extreme,
deceptive desolate eschar on the wound of the waters;
the martyrs who do not bear witness;
the flowers of blood that fade
and scatter in the empty wind
like the screeches of babbling parrots;
an aged life mendaciously smiling,
its lips opened by vacated agonies;
an aged poverty rotting under the sun,
silently; an aged silence
bursting with tepid pustules,
the awful futility of our raison d’etre.
At the end of daybreak, on this very fragile earth thickness
exceeded in a humiliating way by its grandiose future--
the volcanoes will explode,
the naked water will bear away the ripe sun stains
and nothing will be left but a tepid bubbling
pecked at by sea birds--
the beach of dreams and the insane awakening.
At the end of daybreak, this town sprawled-flat,
toppled from its common sense,
inert, winded under its geometric weight
of an eternally renewed cross,
indocile to its fate, mute, vexed
no matter what, incapable of growing
with the juice of this earth, self-conscious, clipped,
reduced, in breach of fauna and flora.
About Me:
Excerpted from "Notebook of a Return to the Native Land" by Aime
Césaire, translated by Clayton Eshleman and Annette Smith. On the web at
www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/594)
Wrong on all Counts
By Former US Rep. Paul Findley
A few words of introduction. I am 85, conscious
of the march of years. I say, "Oh, to be 70 again!" I am on no one's
payroll. I speak only for myself. I am a Christian, but my words arise from
years of devotion to justice for Muslims.
I speak plain language; this is no time to tiptoe
around the truth. Our Middle East policy is wrong - morally, militarily,
politically and legally.
It is biased against Arabs and Muslims and in
favor of Israel. It is worse today than ever before. The massive aid we send
has long helped Israel to inflict lethal degradation on Muslim Palestinians.
We are silent when Israel makes Gaza a vast,
miserable and bloody concentration camp where l.4 million human beings are
denied electricity, clean water, housing, food, and medical care. We look the
other way when Israel arrests officials of Palestine's freely-elected
government. Our Congress approves when Israel herds the rest of the
Palestinians like cattle behind high walls and fences.
Every U.S. president beginning with Lyndon
Johnson could have stopped Israel's major crimes by suspending US aid. Every
Congress could have done the same. But none did. The only U.S. President to
stand resolutely against Israel's criminal behavior was Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Israel's influence has led America into one awful mess after another. Washington was the essential enabler in 1982 when Israeli forces killed 18,000 Arab civilians in Lebanon, a massacre that prompted payback 21 years later in the form of 9/11.
With congressional support, Bush brandishes the
sword of war as his primary instrument of foreign policy. He initiated wars
against Afghanistan and Iraq, helped Israel plan and execute the war in Muslim
Lebanon, and now threatens war against Muslim Syria and Muslim Iran -- each
calamity a by-product of our long complicity with Israel.
For nearly 40 years our government has failed to
take even the first firm step toward cutting loose from Israel's crimes.
President Bush says he wants an independent Palestine, but all his deeds are
destructive. Now, after helping Israel bomb much of Lebanon into a pile of
bloody rubble this summer, Washington is frantically trying to bring about a
durable ceasefire between the two states.
In cosmic language, Bush likens his acts of war
to the battle against Nazism in WW II. He is wrong. Americans were united in
fighting Nazism, an evil. Americans are not united behind Bush because his wars
leave untouched the major, basic cause of terrorism and Middle East conflict -
Israel's US-supported conquest and occupation of Palestine.
How has Israel, a small nation of six million, succeeded in manipulating the policies of this once great nation of 300 million people? The answers can be summed up in one word: Fear.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls
Email Mwananchi@yahoogroups.com
...Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin... By Rick
Weiss...Washington Post Staff Writer...Friday, December 16, 2005...Recent
revelations that all people are more than 99.9 percent genetically identical
has proved that race has almost no biological validity. Yet geneticists' claims
that race is a phony construct have not rung true to many nonscientists -- and
understandably so, said Vivian Ota Wang of the National Human Genome Research
Institute in Bethesda. You may tell people that race isn't real and doesn't
matter, but they can't catch a cab," Ota Wang said. "So unless we
take that into account it makes us sound crazy."
Email www.truthout.org Class Struggle...By Jim
Webb...The most important-and unfortunately the least debated-issue in politics
today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of
which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown
infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to
say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send
their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight
our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable
indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an
astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect
them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of
loopholes.
Email mwananchi@yahoogroups.com
...Gaddafi: Oil behind Darfur crisis...Muammar Gaddafi has accused Western
imperialism trying to grab Sudan's oil wealth with its plan to send UN troops
to Darfur. Gaddafi urged the Khartoum government to reject the proposal.
"Western countries and America are not busying themselves out of sympathy
for the Sudanese people or for Africa but for oil and for the return of
colonialism to the African continent."
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